Cycling thread

[Black Belt Jones]

Love this time of the season. From here until the Giro is great racing pretty much every week.

Should be a great race today, although I'm going to miss most of it. Going to ride today whilst it's dry in the Peak, as it's wet tomorrow.

Hope Pidcock shows well today.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Should be a great race today, although I'm going to miss most of it. Going to ride today whilst it's dry in the Peak, as it's wet tomorrow.

Hope Pidcock shows well today.

Lots of intrigue today, with MvdP having his first outing of the season. Pidcock hasn't really shown much thus far, and Alaphalippe hasn't really got the same mojo as a few years ago. Seems like it's wide open, unlike Paris-Nice, which seems to be all about Pogacar and Vingegaard.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Pidcock must have this. He's ridden beautifully.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

And capped off by Jumbo making a royal pig's ear of things. Fantastic.

 

[Black Belt Jones]

Awesome effort - 50K solo to Strade Bianche. Thought they would catch him tbh, but too much incoherence in the group - TP finished very strong.

Benoot had the mega-legs there but couldn't get on the same page as Valter for whatever reason.

 

[TheWinslowBoy]

Great that from Pidcock today.

Paris Nice starts tomorrow, Vingegaard v Pog......ooofff!

(spoiler alert - Pog wins).

 

[Spadge Vernacular]

Not great.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Not great.

Christ. That was a lucky escape.

 

[thirdmantackle]

First race of the season for me over the weekend
Very respectable 7th position, including a puncture that sealed 30km from home, a crash that i narrowly avoided and a mass sprint finish

 

[Bruce Wayne]

This is a good watch

 

[sbbefc]

Pog's stage race results. Mental.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Pog's stage race results. Mental.

It's very Hinault and Merckx like. Given his apparent desire to win everything, it can't be long before he goes for the Giro/Tour double?

 

[Black Belt Jones]

MSR tomorrow - all eyes on Pog on the mega-crux of the Poggio, but it's such a hard race to win. Fast race expected with big tailwinds.

Tough one for Pidcock to miss - for all the bolex that commentators like to talk about the handling skills of such and such CX or MTB rider, given the insane descending skills of most WT riders, it seems like he really does have an edge here.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

MSR tomorrow - all eyes on Pog on the mega-crux of the Poggio, but it's such a hard race to win. Fast race expected with big tailwinds.

Tough one for Pidcock to miss - for all the bolex that commentators like to talk about the handling skills of such and such CX or MTB rider, given the insane descending skills of most WT riders, it seems like he really does have an edge here.

It's a great race because there are so many possible winners. It's hard to see how Pogacar can realistically win though. The Poggio isn't really selective enough to produce the winning move on its own and while he has a good sprint there are probably quicker riders. My money is on someone going away over the top of the Poggio and no one wanting to chase. A relatively unfancied name, such as Laporte or someone.

 

[Black Belt Jones]

It's a great race because there are so many possible winners. It's hard to see how Pogacar can realistically win though. The Poggio isn't really selective enough to produce the winning move on its own and while he has a good sprint there are probably quicker riders. My money is on someone going away over the top of the Poggio and no one wanting to chase. A relatively unfancied name, such as Laporte or someone.

Yes most likely outcome - Pog attacked hard last year on the Poggio iirc and nothing really stuck, too easy a gradient to drop an elite group.
He's a great descender (obv) but not known as a guy to throw something really wild down on a descent, so attacking on the downslope feels less likely. The lad knows how to win though! Wouldn't surprise me if he found a way.